upper class

American  

noun

1. a class of people above the middle class, having the highest social rank or standing based on wealth, family connections, and the like.

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upper class British  

noun

1. the class occupying the highest position in the social hierarchy, esp the wealthy or the aristocracy

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adjective

1. of or relating to the upper class

2. education of or relating to the junior or senior classes of a college or high school

Other Word Forms

• upper-class
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of upper class

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

“Poor people are as bad off as in the special period, but a segment of middle and upper class have access to dollars and are not in such bad shape, which causes real social tension.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

It is, as she says, both appropriation of the trappings of the upper class and a challenge to the order they’ve subjected the world to.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2025

Two of the central narrators in the book - millionaire Anthony Wistern and his wife Olivia - are in constant conflict, with Anthony's working-class upbringing often clashing with Olivia's upper class roots.

From BBC • Sep. 21, 2024

In many ways I feel more at home with those folks than I do with the white upper class and other elites who I often travel among personally and professionally.

From Salon • May 23, 2024

The upper class, however, in whose hands were concentrated all the power and wealth, was unaware of the danger that threatened the fragile equilibrium of their position.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• aristocracy
• jet set
• upper crust